U.S. Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

Many colleges started considering race in admissions during the civil rights era as a remedy to past discrimination. Later, the court found that diversity is a “compelling interest” for colleges.

In order to admit a diverse class, colleges also consider other kinds of diversity beyond race that are not challenged in the two cases. They seek students from a variety of geographical locations, socioeconomic backgrounds and academic interests.None of these other factors have been controversial. And they are not illegal for colleges to consider.

Two of them were against the University of Texas at Austin. On behalf of Abigail Fisher, a white applicant who was rejected by the university, Blum argued that the university’s consideration of race penalized Fisher and violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Both cases failed. Harvard argued that the allegations made by Students for Fair Admissions are “dangerously misleading, distorting data to reach preconceived and wrong conclusions” and that its admissions process considers race one as many factors, as permitted by law.

Initially the Court intended to hear an argument for both cases and issue a single decision. But Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself from the Harvard case because of her ties to the university – she attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, served on a governing board that is similar to a board of trustees and has a daughter currently attending the university. That led to Brown Jackson only hearing the University of North Carolina case and the two cases being separated.

Under this theory, if the law is trying to remedy inequalities, affirmative action programs should be treated differently than other kinds of racial discrimination, she said.

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

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